A TEAM of medical experts from Guildford’s Royal Surrey County Hospital are preparing for a trip to a war-torn country in Central America to train doctors there.

Led by retired Godalming GP Chris Jagger, chairman of the charity Salvadorian Children’s Earthquake Trust (SALCET), the group of 10 will fly to El Salvador on February 10 and spend a fortnight in Hospital Nacional Rosales in San Salvador.

The group includes two doctors, physiotherapists, a planner and a biochemist, and four members are specialists from the Royal Surrey’s endoscopy department.

As well as bringing their medical expertise, they will be donating four endoscopes to the hospital, which will be used to help diagnose and treat gastro-intestinal conditions.

“We are going to be doing a four-day teaching course for the doctors, and we will also spend some time working with them on their rounds as they go about their work,” said Dr Jagger, 62.

“Upper gastro-intestinal conditions are really very difficult to treat without an endoscope because a number of conditions have very similar symptoms and, without that piece of equipment, you cannot see what the problem is.

“At the moment, the medical team at Rosales Hospital is sharing one endoscope.

“With a few more we will be able to diagnose and therefore treat so many more people, and that could have a huge impact on mortality rates.”

Dr Jagger first visited El Savador in January 2001 after the country suffered a devastating earthquake and a series of mudslides.

He was working towards his PhD in response strategies at the time and went there with his friend Steve Snelling and a medical kit.

A month later, the pair were still working in the country with the Christian charity Compassion when they were caught in the epicentre of another earthquake.

They saw whole villages razed to the ground and spent days helping pull people from the rubble.

“It was a terrible and frightening thing to experience,” Dr Jagger said

“It made us see how completely vulnerable people are in El Savador to landslides, mudslides, earthquakes and just about everything Mother Nature can throw at it.

“It made us determined to help.”

To donate to the charity, send cheques made payable to SALCET to the Endoscopy Unit at the Royal Surrey County Hospital, Egerton Road, Guildford, Surrey, GU2 7XX. Alternatively, give money via the website at www.salcet.co.uk .